Group Acts Against Militarist Ads

Turkey's "Peace Initiative" has applied to the Advertisement Self-Regulatory Board asking for a new campaign launched under the "Wanted" brand name with references to long range" and "pellet effect" be banned. Group says it is wrong to use militarist expressions reflecting violence and arms.

BIA News Center

26/09/2006

BIA (Istanbul) - Turkey's Peace Initiative has moved against a new advertisement campaign under the brand name Wanted" launched by the ETI group and complained to the Advertisement Self-Regulatory board for it to be banned on grounds of being militarist in nature.

The campaign addressing children and youth in Turkey is criticized for using militarist expressions that remind its target audience of violence and weapons.

* "Rice Krispies with pellet effects"

* "Long-Range Caramel"

* "Camouflaged Milk Chocolate"

Were cited as some of the references in the campaign that the group has found offensive.

In its complaint to the Board, the Peace Initiative has expressed its view that it was not proper to attract the attention of child and youth consumers to products through the use of references that reflect violence and war.

"These references that bring to mind war, violence and weapons in a militarist way may be expressions written down by the creators of the adverts to be amusing. Whereas in a world full of violence where people are dying every day and where guns do not go silent, we need a language void of violence more than any other time" their application said. (KO/TK/II/YE)